News and Analysis
MULO Brands With Soul: KINDR
This month, our “brand with soul” is not a MULO brand at all. It’s KindR, an organization committed to making workplaces kinder, which attracts the best talent and ensures retention and growth. The war for talent at MULO (multi-location) restaurant, retail, and service brands does not have to be a bloody battle. In fact, by […]
The MULO Dozen: March in Review
As we closed out March and the first quarter of 2025, here’s what CEOs were searching for: Although these vast critical issues are top-of-mind for business leaders, March as well as the first three months of the year were filled with strategies and decisions in the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem. AI, tariffs, and hiring freezes are […]
The Robot is Carrying Your Pizza: Timothy Tanksley Predicts the Future of MULO Serving
One of the biggest challenges bars and restaurants face today is finding skilled labor. Add to that the cost of overserving expensive cocktail ingredients (both in terms of product expense and product quality). Timothy Tanksley is the Director of Marketing at Richtech Robotics. At the Bar & Restaurant Expo, one of the company’s robots served us a […]
Commentary
As Cookies Crumble, Lotame Launches Solution to Help Digital Marketers
In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, the ability to harness and utilize data effectively is becoming even more important. Lotame has taken a significant step forward in enabling data collaboration with the launch of Lotame Collaborate and Lotame Onboarding. These innovative solutions, available through their data collaboration platform, Spherical, promise to change how digital […]
Subscription Fatigue: How Streaming Services Can Keep Customers Happy
Streaming is big business, and looks to only keep expanding in 2024 and beyond – with more players, more dollars to win, more subscribers, and a proliferation of new ad tiers. Eighty-three percent of Americans have at least one streaming service subscription and the average American subscribes to four services. For streaming platforms at first […]
When Gen AI Erodes Trust, Brands Take the Fall
Generative AI’s potential to change the way we work and shop holds amazing promise, but this new technology also poses heightened risks for brands. Maintaining customer trust will be a perpetual challenge as generative AI (GenAI) changes the fraud landscape in two important ways. First, GenAI is already making it easier for professional and amateur […]
Latest Posts
Ad Costs and Spending are Both on the Rise, According to Skai Study
Omnichannel advertising platform Skai recently published its Q2 2024 Digital Marketing Quarterly Trends Report. It reveals topline growth numbers in retail media, paid search, and paid social were all positive, maintaining similar levels to those reported by Skai last quarter. The analysis found that advertisers paid more for clicks and impressions in Q2 2024, but […]
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…
When Mark Ballard, Director of Research at Tinuiti, first looked at the results of a holiday shopping survey it conducted recently, he was struck by one recurring theme: “People expect to spend more on holiday gifts this year than last year,” Ballard said. “What did surprise me is the degree to which inflation is still top of […]
Keen Partners with TapClicks to Simplify Data Collection for Marketers
Keen Decision Systems, a marketing mix SaaS company, recently announced a partnership with TapClicks, to streamline data collection for marketing mix models. This collaboration aims to make it easier for marketers, particularly smaller brands, to gather, organize, and analyze their data efficiently, removing significant challenges in the marketing decision-making process. Addressing a Common Challenge for […]
Beware the Small Screen: Consumers Resist Mobile Shopping, Says Megan Hastings
A new report from Quantum Metric reveals that mobile commerce hasn’t fully bloomed. In fact, Quantum Metric calls mobile the “awkward middle schooler of digital commerce.” The report reveals that consumers have mixed emotions about leveraging mobile commerce in retail, travel, and financial services. 75% browse on a mobile device at least 2+ times a day, but just 26% buy […]
The MULO Retail (R)Evolution: 5 Keys to Success
Retail is far from dead, despite the rise of online commerce. It’s just evolving — in some cases radically. The media is often filled with stories of MULO (multi-location) retailers declaring bankruptcy and/or shuttering locations. But, at the same time, new brands and categories are emerging and expanding. Fast Company recently featured new brands, including […]
Should MULO Brands Jump Into the U.S. Political Battleground?
As we know, brands are known for newsjacking and momentjacking. But what happens when that moment is a hotly-contested U.S. election? Today’s political climate has implications for brands and MULO (multi-location) retailers, and restaurants. Seemingly Safe Encouraging consumers to vote, regardless of their political leanings, appears to be OK, provided it is well done. In […]
Spotzer and Adplorer Partner, Ad-Tech Collaborations Continue
In a recent strategic move, Spotzer announced a partnership with Adplorer, integrating Adplorer’s ad-serving technology into SpotzerAds. This collaboration will help Spotzer’s enterprise partners and agencies, by improving ad-serving capabilities, supporting platforms like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and LinkedIn. Adplorer, with over 14 years of experience and €750 million in managed ad spend, complements Spotzer’s extensive […]
Streets Ahead: FTC Reviews Ruling and Google Core Update
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi looks at the FTC’s new ruling on reviews and the Google august core update. FTC Launches New Rule to Combat Misleading Reviews and Ratings The News Fake reviews have been a longstanding issue in the digital marketplace, misleading consumers and harming reputable businesses. In response, after over a […]
Survey: CTV Is the Channel to Watch for Advertising Dollars
The shift of advertising budgets from linear TV to CTV reflects the most significant consumer behavior this year, according to a report by Mediaocean, released on August 19. The omnichannel ad-media platform just released its 2024 H2 Market Report that looks at emerging consumer, media, and media-technology trends for the rest of the year, the […]
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